Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Woman, Renew Yourself

I went for an event for women on Saturday entitled "Be Renewed", which was sponsored by True Love magazine, Montaigne Place (a spa) and some other companies which I forget. It was a forum for women to get together and enjoy an evening in each other's company and let their hair down. And we all know that for women, and particularly for African women, that can be a hard thing to do. I asked my best friend to come along, but because she had to work (on a Saturday!!!!!), which left little time for her to do all the other things she needed to get done, she was unable to come. Case in point!!!!!I was just excited to have somewhere to dress up for.

My sister and I got there about an hour and a half late, but found out that with "African time" in full effect, we were right on time. The opening prayers had just been said as we walked in, after which women were asked to network with each other. However, since we had just arrived, we chose to get to know some of our table mates a bit better.

The theme for the evening was 70s, 80s and 90s, with guests asked to dress by one of the decades. I couldn't tell what decade many women had drawn their inspiration from, but there was obviously lots of mixing of decades, with many women donning afro wigs in addition to whatever else they chose to wear.

There were apparently some celebrities in the crowd, but me being a newcomer, I couldn't tell you who many of them were. The food was great, as was the comedian and the music. I met some pretty interesting people to boot! So, all in all, I would say that I had a fantastic time there.

Last night, I went to a restaurant called La Marimba, which is part of the Hacienda hotel. The food was great, but I was surprised that there was no one in the lounge. I know that Sunday night is traditionally not a party night, but I thought that since today is a public holiday (Independence Day), there would be a lot of people out. Apparently, I thought wrong. Afterwards, we crossed the road to Saipan, a Chinese restaurant and lounge and one of the newest night spots in Lagos. The decor is absolutely beautiful, but again it was almost empty. My best friend, Y, said that people in Lagos just do not go out on Sunday nights. Well, now I know.